Bill Viola’s ‘Observance’ Returns To The Walker

I remember saying how boring I thought this was when I first saw it but I have to admit it left an impression, I can still remember it quite clearly (unlike most videos) and I feel compelled to go back and see it again – just for a short while.

‘Observance‘, our video installation by Bill Viola, is back on display in the Walker Art Gallery. It was last seen in April 2005 shortly after it was purchased with assistance from the National Art Collections Fund in 2004.

Rather than taking its place amongst contemporary items from the collection, curators have placed the work in Room One alongside works such as Ercole de’ Roberti’s ‘Pietà’ and ‘The Lamentation over the Dead Christ’. These are the sort of works that inspired by Viola to make his series ‘The Passions‘.